tdt1e01.indd 14 3/13/2009 4:06:38 PM - Pelican Publishing Company

Cullen Baker 49
When Baker learned that Orr had survived, he swore
vengeance on any of his gang members who had conspired
to save Orr. Lee Rames quickly identified himself as the
culprit, drew his own pistols, then rode off with the entire
gang, leaving the Irishman Matthew “Dummy” Kirby behind
as Baker’s sole companion. Rames, so it seems, escaped
with the others to obscurity. 71 About a week after the gang
apparently disbanded, the Fourth U.S. Cavalry dispatched
federal forces to two Cass and Bowie counties, but in the
end, Baker’s neighbors did him in.
A cabal evolved from discussions among neighbors in
the Brightstar area in early January 1869 as to how the
community could be saved from further harm. Eventually,
a welcoming committee of sorts was formed. The group
consisted of six men. John Chamblee had visited Gen.
George P. Buell on Christmas Eve at Jefferson, Texas,
seeking assistance from the federal army, but was unable
to get Buell’s agreement on a specific course of action.
Apparently, Chamblee was now ready to take action himself.
William Foster, Robert Spell, and I. M. Dempsey had all
been threatened by Baker, while Joe Davis and Thomas Orr
had actually been hanged by the Swamp Fox. This group
decided upon a general course of action on that inevitable
day when Baker would again appear in Brightstar.
That day came on January 6, 1869, when Baker and
Kirby suddenly appeared at the Lamar residence, less than
a mile away from the William Foster place near presentday
Doddridge, Arkansas. A new group carried out the
actual execution. William Foster, Joe Davis, Frank Davis
(no relation), Leonard Spivey, and Howell Smith’s son Billy
Smith assisted Orr with the killings.
Foster had the most critical and dangerous assignment.
First he brought whiskey for both desperadoes and spareribs
for Kirby. While Baker and Kirby were sleeping, Foster
carefully pulled Baker’s shotgun out of his reach. About an
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